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New Kaipara Council is Official

I had the great pleasure of attending the new Council's inaugural meeting and swearing in ceremony today at Matakohe War Memorial Hall.The ceremony was opened by Pastor Tawhiri Littlejohn accompanied by his mother Mina Paikea. The Dargaville High School kapa haka group performed before the official swearing in and first items of Council business were transacted followed by the singing of the national anthem and afternoon tea.Thank you to everyone who came and joined us to make it such a special ...

Aranga Beach Toilet Opening

It was a beautiful sunny morning on Monday for the official opening of the new Aranga toilets.The project was built by Huband Contractors with project management by Hoskin Civil, with a final cost of $230,000 funded by depreciation reserves.The old toilets had failed and it was important to get new toilets in place.The opening was supported with a blessing from Te Roroa members, and attended by Aranga School staff and students. The students were involved in the painting of the mural which was le...

Creating Strategic Networks for Kaipara

Had a great couple of days at "Mayors School" in the capital.This was a great opportunity to connect with most of the 66 Mayors from across New Zealand - 33 of whom were returning re-elected, and 33 new in the job.Lots of great information about how to run successful councils and time to catch up with key government ministers. I took the opportunity to talk Kaipara economic development with PM Rt. Hon. Christopher Luxon and thank him again for investment in Kaipara via the Te Tai Tokerau Water T...

Northern Corridor Route Approved

MAJOR NEWS FOR KAIPARA AND NORTHLANDAs announced today by the Transport Minister, Hon Chris Bishop, the NZTA Board has endorsed the Northland Corridor investment case for the 2 RoNS between Te Hana and Whangārei, Te Hana and Port Marsden Highway (including the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills) and Port Marsden Highway and Whangārei.The investment case recommends moving to route protection in a staged approach for the full corridor between Te Hana and Whangārei and endorses the preferred ro...

Kaiwaka Volunteer Fire Brigade Honours Night

Had the pleasure of spending the first evening of my mayoralty at the Kaiwaka Volunteer Fire Brigade honours night. Kaipara District contains eight fire brigades - Mangawhai, Kaiwaka, Maungaturoto, Paparoa, Tinopai, Ruawai, Dargaville and Te Kopuru. The dedicated volunteers at all the brigades give their time to help the community when most in need.Thank you for your service....

Jonathan Larsen - Mayor of Kaipara District Council

I received a phone call last night to inform me that I have been elected as the Mayor of Kaipara District.Thank you to everyone who has helped me throughout the campaign. The faith and support that voters across the district have provided has been very humbling.Most importantly thank you for electing an outstanding team of councillors - all courageous Kaipara people who are passionate about serving their district. A Mayor can only excel when surrounded by a talented team and that is what you hav...

Managing growth at Mangawhai

Photo: Mangawhai Heads in 1962...

Te Waihekeora Reservoir Official Opening

Had the privilege of attending the opening of the Te Waihekeora water reservoir today by Prime Minister Rt Hon Christopher Luxon. A major initiative of Hon Shane Jones the Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust reservoir provides opportunities for significant economic growth in Kaipara by allowing the development of high value horticulture....

Fixing our roads

Roading is Council’s biggest asset and biggest spend of ratepayers money. Understandably the condition of our roads is one of the biggest concerns raised by ratepayers. With 1200km of our 1600km road network being unsealed it is a big area to maintain. At the start of this term our roading maintenance was not working. Maintenance had been run down during the commissioner era and the leadership of the previous council neglected maintenance in order to keep rates artificially low....

Jonathan Larsen - Mayor for all of Kaipara

I’m Jonathan Larsen and I am standing to be your new Mayor in the upcoming elections in October. I'm your current Deputy Mayor, and four term Councillor, I bring experience, stability, and strong leadership with a track record of delivering results for Kaipara’s ratepayers. Let's keep Kaipara moving forward together!...

Uniting Kaipara: Mayoral Candidate Jonathan Larsen Announces East-West Partnership with Councillor Gordon Lambeth

One of the important points raised with me by Dargaville and Wairoa Ward ratepayers is that if possible they want trusted western leadership at the Council table.Whilst skills and experience may be considered more important than location, when all of these attributes are available in one person then that is a bonus. Councillor Gordon Lambeth is such a person.On that basis I have made the guarantee upfront before the election. If I am elected as Mayor, and Councillor Lambeth is re-elected, I will...

Getting a better deal for Kaipara

Had a great meeting yesterday with Andy Foster MP and Dr David Wilson MP in conjunction with some Whangarei District Council members to discuss many matters of interest to Kaipara and Northland.The imminent news of the preferred route for the next stage of the Northern Corridor motorway is front and centre, along with how it will traverse the Brynderwyns. The untapped Northland economic potential is estimated at $60 billion.Councillor Gordon Lambeth and I didn't miss an opportunity to put Winsto...

Kaiwaka footpath completed

Great to see the Kaiwaka footpath completed yesterday. Wharehine Group Ltd have done great work on this tricky job in some pretty rough weather. The project was a Kaiwaka Can idea from a number of years ago. I approached Shane Jones who secured the funding for the two footbridges and the footpath without which this would never have happened - thank you Shane!The bridges used all of the budget so we had to wait to allocate budget to complete the path. This is a big improvement for pedestrian acce...

Citizenship ceremony

It was a beautiful morning yesterday at the Dargaville Lighthouse Event Centre where fifteen new New Zealand citizens were officially sworn in and officially welcomed to the Kaipara district.These ceremonies really emphasise the diversity of our communities with people from many walks of life coming to join us, or finally doing the paperwork after many years as residents.The new citizens were from ten different countries of origin - Mexico, Thailand, Germany, South Africa, United Kingdom, USA, F...

Kaiwaka footpath nearing completion

Great progress has been made on the Kaiwaka footpath linking the two footbridges. This path will provide a valuable pedestrian linkage around central Kaiwaka on both sides of the busy state highway.The crossing to Kaiwaka Clothing has been improved by lowering the grade. To achieve this telecommunications cables, both conventional and fibre optic, had to be located and lowered into a deeper trench.There are a couple more concrete pours to complete, then a bit of tidy up. All.works should be comp...

Catch up with Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown

I had a great catch up with our neighbouring Mayor Wayne Brown over dinner last night. It's really important to work with our neigbouring Councils to share ideas and collaborate. We had a good discussion on a wide range of issues affecting local government, including how we deal with waste disposal. I look forward to continuing this dialogue....

Dome Valley landfill hui at Puatahi Marae

Puatahi Marae hosted an excellent hui on Sunday regarding continued opposition to the proposed Dome Valley Landfill.Ngati Manuhiri and Ngati Whatua are no longer opposing the landfill but many of the smaller Marae and Fight the tip, Save the Dome are resolute in continuing to stop this travesty from occurring. To be fair I'm not sure anyone else in the Kaipara and North Rodney area wants the landfill either.A big thank you to Mikaere Miru and Mina Henare (Tinopai RMU) and the Fight the Tip team ...

Jonathan Larsen - for Mayor of Kaipara in the Kaipara Lifestyler

Here's my column in the Kaipara Lifestyler -...

Pre-election period begins

The three month pre-election period during which candidates signs can go up started today.Bit of a blustery Kaipara morning for banging up hoardings but still - never saw anyone melt in the rain......

Ruawai Volunteer Fire Brigade Honours Night

Pictured L to R: Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen, with fellow Gold Star recipients Tim Johnson, Skippy Sheehan and Ant Blundell I had the pleasure of attending the Ruawai Volunteer Fire Brigade Honours Night at the Ruawai-Tokatoka War Memorial Hall.  It was great to catch up with familiar faces from Ruawai, Dargaville and further north from my days working in FENZ Region Training in Northland.The main event was the presentation of the 25 year Gold Star medals to no less than three dedicat...

Kaipara Citizens Awards and Environmental Awards

It was a beautiful day up at the Dargaville Lighthouse Function Centre yesterday to recognise and celebrate the extraordinary contributions of some of our dedicated Kaipara people. Mayor Craig Jepson presented the following awards, and recipients' nominators and families spoke about each recipients contributions to our community.The recipients were -2025 Citizens AwardsExtraordinary service by a newcomer to the districtJacqui O'ConnorNominators: Christine and Robert Pirie Jacqui moved to Mangawh...

Good news for Kaiwaka safety and connectivity

Pictured L to R - Mayor Craig Jepson, Rachael Williams - KDC Councillor Kaiwaka - Mangawhai Ward, Councillor Ash Nayyar, Jonathan Larsen - for Mayor of Kaipara District, Wharehine Contract Manager Jordan Watson, KDC Project Manager Tim Manning, Wharehine Project Manager Arshad BeigBack in 2020 I approached Hon. Shane Jones who at the time was the Minister for Regional Economic Development overseeing the Provincial Growth Fund.I pitched to him a Kaiwaka Can concept to link up central Kaiwaka and ...

Warkworth to Te Hana Motorway getting closer

Great news for Kaipara District today with an announcement that the expressions of interest stage of the procurement works for the Warkworth to Te Hana Motorway has been completed. Three shortlisted consortia will be invited to make submissions to design, build, operate, maintain and finance the Motorway.The preferred bidder is expected to be confirmed early 2026, with early construction work starting in late 2026.This is going to be amazing for Kaipara District (and Northland Region) - a four-l...

The Importance of Being Earnest

Had a blast attending the Dargaville Little Theatre production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest last night directed by Adrian Humm. The play is a witty satire of Victorian society, performed by a star-studded cast of talented local actors from this now internationally recognised theatre company. The most amazing colourful costumes were featured as one comes to expect from the close Dargaville Sewing Centre connections. The production also incorporates some great contemporary twis...

Dargaville Museum 40th anniversary

A great attendance today at the Dargaville Museum 40th anniversary open day celebration. The keen team of volunteers have turned on an excellent day. Here Tim, Ron and Dave demonstrate how to start the Blackstone oil engine on the gum washing machine. This machine was lying in the scrub at the end of Redhill Cemetery Rd for about 70 years near Glinks Gully. It was recovered and expertly restored by George and John Sutich.The open day is running until 3pm with free entry - come on down and check ...